UNICEF Report Warns Internet Continues to Fragment and Become Less Global
The Internet will continue to fragment and become less global, resulting in further disparities — prompting a greater push for openness, fairness and inclusion, UNICEF writes in a 2023 Global Outlook report with trends that in the coming year will affect child rights and wellbeing.
“While the Internet has been splintering for some years, fragmentation has accelerated and is now at an all-time high. Fragmentation, or the segmentation of the Internet into separate islands of connectivity and governance, undermines its creators’ vision that it be a global public good that benefits all.”
The report says that children in particular stand to lose from this fragmentation because they depend on Internet access for information and educational resources, play, and socializing with friends, peers and family.
Fragmentation of the Internet into separate and often incompatible networks consists of multiple dimensions, the report says:
- Geopolitical – reflecting increased competition among governments seeking to advance their political and economic interests in the digital sphere, usually at the expense of digital cooperation.
- Technical – with governments, industry and civil society often unable to reach consensus on competing standards. Such consensus is needed needed for digital systems to operate together.
- Economic – in which business practices stifle the open and rights-based use of technology platforms. Meanwhile, the lack of equitable distribution of the benefits of data use has led governments to restrict international data flows.
- Democratic – in which Internet fragmentation manifests in censorship and surveillance, Internet shutdowns, disruptions and other limitations on Internet freedoms. These levels of Internet fragmentation are interconnected, with government policies often driving the process.
VIA Moonshot